If you only ever learn one prompting skill, make it this one: be specific.
According to Anthropic's official prompting guidance, clarity and directness solves roughly 80% of prompting problems. Before reaching for advanced techniques like chain of thought or few-shot examples, ask yourself: "Have I been completely clear about what I want?"
The Specificity Spectrum
Think of prompts on a spectrum from vague to specific:
Vague → General → Specific → Precise
Most beginners live at "Vague". Professionals live at "Specific" or "Precise".
| Vague | Specific | |-------|----------| | "Write an email" | "Write a follow-up email to a potential client who attended our demo 3 days ago but hasn't responded. Tone: warm but professional. Goal: get them to book a second call." | | "Summarize this" | "Summarize this 2,000-word article in exactly 3 bullet points. Each bullet should be one sentence and start with an action verb." | | "Help me with my code" | "This Python function is supposed to return the average of a list but returns None when the list is empty. Find the bug and fix it." | | "Give me ideas" | "Give me 10 headline ideas for a blog post targeting junior developers who want to learn system design. Each headline should be under 60 characters." |
Five Ways to Be More Specific
1. Define the output format explicitly
Don't let the AI decide how to structure its response. Tell it.
Bad: "List some marketing strategies."
Good: "List 5 marketing strategies. For each one, include:
- Strategy name (bold)
- One-sentence description
- Best suited for: [type of business]"
2. Specify length
AI models will write as much or as little as they think is appropriate. Your job is to override that.
Bad: "Explain machine learning."
Good: "Explain machine learning in exactly 3 sentences, aimed at a non-technical CEO."
3. Name your audience
Who is going to read or use this output? The AI will calibrate vocabulary, depth, and tone accordingly.
Bad: "Explain recursion."
Good: "Explain recursion to a 15-year-old who knows basic Python but has never studied CS formally."
4. State what you don't want
Negative constraints are just as powerful as positive ones.
"Write a product description. Do NOT use the words 'revolutionary', 'game-changing',
or 'innovative'. Avoid corporate jargon. No bullet points."
5. Give an example of the output you want
The single most powerful specificity tool. Show, don't just tell.
"Write 3 tweet-length summaries of this article.
Example of the style I want:
'New study finds remote workers are 13% more productive — but only when they have
a dedicated workspace. Your spare bedroom counts.'
Now write 3 in that style for the article below: [article]"
The Clarity Test
Before sending any prompt, ask yourself:
- Could this be interpreted differently? If yes, clarify.
- Have I specified the format? Length, structure, style?
- Have I defined the audience? Who is this for?
- Have I stated constraints? What should it NOT do?
- Do I need an example? Would showing one help?
If you answer "no" or "not sure" to any of these, strengthen the prompt before sending.
Common Vagueness Traps
"Make it better" — Better how? Shorter? More formal? More persuasive? More accurate?
"Write something about X" — Something what? An essay? A summary? A tweet? A poem?
"Analyze this" — Analyze for what? Sentiment? Structure? Logical flaws? Business implications?
"Be creative" — In what direction? Witty? Poetic? Unexpected? Metaphor-heavy?
Each of these requires you to add specifics before the AI can help you properly.
Key Takeaway
Specificity isn't about writing longer prompts. It's about writing complete prompts — ones where you've communicated your goal, format, audience, and constraints so clearly that the AI has no room to misinterpret.
Before you add any advanced technique to a prompt, ask: "Have I been specific enough?" In most cases, that alone will solve your problem.
Next: Learn how to Assign Roles & Personas to prime the AI with domain expertise.